February 5, 2024

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 05.02.2024, 13:55

Healthcare. The representatives of the Sanitas and
Solidaritatea Sanitară trade union federations are today having talks with
prime minister Marcel Ciolacu amid recent protests to discuss pay rise demands
and staff shortages. Trade unions want salaries in the health sector to go up
by at least 20%. According to Răzvan Gaie, the vice-president of Sanitas, the
Romanian healthcare sector is also faced with acute staff shortages, including
nurses, paramedics and administrative staff. He said that the new salary scheme
has benefitted doctors, while the rest of healthcare workers have been left
behind. Health minister Alexandru Rafila recently gave assurances that many of
the salary demands made by trade unions would be solved. He also admitted to
gaps in the salaries of the hospital staff.

Elections. The Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party in
the ruling coalition are considering holding the European elections at the same
date as the local elections, at the beginning of June, with the subject to be
discussed in Parliament. The opposition parties the Save Romania Union and the
Alliance for the Union of Romanians are opposed to the idea. The Social
Democrats’ priorities for the current Parliamentary session include capping
interest rates on loans from non-banking financial institutions, combating drug
use and drug trafficking and restricting access to gambling. The Liberals are
expected to propose bills to eliminate taxes on pensions under 600 euros and double
taxation on assets and deposits as part of the 2nd pillar pension
fund, which is managed by the private sector. The Save Romania Union is to
support bills to block increases in taxes and duties and to eliminate special
pensions for mayors. The Alliance for the Union of Romanians said it would
promote bills aimed at preserving Romanian national identity in the Diaspora,
while the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania aims to support
vulnerable families, farmers and the business community.

Farmers. Farmers’ problems are to be
discussed by Euro MPs meeting this week in Strasbourg. They will assess the
situation of farmers and the prices of agricultural products amid protests in
many EU countries, including Romania. Farmers are worried about the Union’s
environmental and commercial policies and their alleged negative impact on
agriculture. Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis is also to travel to Strasbourg
to attend the This is Europe debate in the European Parliament on Wednesday.
This series of debates was launched in 2022, soon after the start of the war
against Ukraine and 12 such meetings with European leaders have taken place
since then. The aim is to reiterate European values and unity, to consolidate
democratic debate on current issues and to generate a consistent vision of the
future of the European project.

Swimming. 19-year-old Romanian swimmer Andrei Enache broke a new world
record, winning the fastest heat in the 250 m freestyle race, while Dragoş
Ghile won the gold in the 100 m butterfly race, also breaking the world record,
on Sunday, on the final day of the European Ice Swimming Championship hosted by
the Romanian city of Oradea. Simona Chiru won the silver medal in the women’s
50 m freestyle race, having come first in Saturday’s final in the 100 m
freestyle race and setting a new world record. The water in the Olympic stadium
in Oradea was 4.4 degrees Celsius. This 1st edition of the European
Ice Swimming Championship held between 1st and 4th
February brought together teams from 27 different countries. Romania was
represented by 35 swimmers.

Weather. A yellow code warning for strong wind is in place across most
of Romania today, while an orange code was issued for the Southern Carpathians
and the Curvature Carpathians. Snow is reported on the top of the mountains and
visibility is low. Wind speeds of 55-70 km/hour are expected, to even reach
110-120 km/hour in the highest regions, especially at altitudes of over 1,500
metres. The skies are overcast and rain shows are reported in the north-west,
centre and north, while in the mountains rainfalls are causing the snow layer
to melt. The highs of the day, which are much higher than the average for this
time of the year, are between 6 and 19 degrees Celsius, with 14 in Bucharest at
noon. (CM)